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Hours needed to extinguish barn fire

LARRY DEKLINSKI/STAFF PHOTO A firefighter stands near a fully involved barn at the High farm near Pitman early Wednesday, Nov. 30. Hundreds of bales of hay caught fire.

PITMAN — Hundreds of bales of hay burned for hours in a barn fire early Wednesday morning, Nov. 30.
Firefighters were called to the High farm in Eldred Township, Schuykill County, around 1:15 a.m. Wednesday morning located along Ridge Road, about a mile east of Route 125 at the Purple Pump.
The barn, some 100-feet long, began to collapse within 30 minutes of the initial 911 call. Hundreds of feet of supply line was laid to the scene from Ridge Road. Water was supplied by a slew of tankers from fire companies from Northumberland and Schuylkill counties. A fill site was located at a pond on the Masser farm about 2 miles away.

Firefighters peeled away the tin exterior to suppress the flames. Dozens of bovine stood along a fence away from the growing flames. Heavy machinery was eventually needed to move smoldering bales to reach hot spots. A nearby building several hundred feet in length was not damaged.
Mahantongo Fire Company Chief Jim Saltzman said the cause was undetermined, but the flames did quite a bit of damage by the time fire crews arrived. It was estimated that 100,000 gallons of water was used to put out the fire. No cattle were injured and the last units cleared the scene at 10 a.m.